Tricky Exposure/Film ?

[bigdog]

Anybody have experience shooting a welder?

Any advice on choice of either a B&W or color film choice and possible outcome relating to exposure and final look of print?

How about the compensation for the extreme light source and the meter AE cranking the shutter speed up to 2000? Any filter recommendations?

Should I stay way from SLR and go with a rangefinder and loose framing to avoid blinding myself trying to view and frame shots?

 

[Sparrow]

No experience but xp2, flash-fill, tripod and two pairs of ray-bans would be my starting point

 

[Pompiere]

I only did it once, when my son's scout troop was on a field trip, but the pictures turned out pretty good. I was using a Canon point-n-shoot with the flash on. I aimed at the end of the welding rod, then closed my eyes and pressed the shutter when he struck the arc. Even with the bright arc in the center of the picture, the rest of the picture is not too dark. I ended up framing a print to give to the scout leader/welder who was doing the demo.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Yes, I've done it, with modest success (well, the client paid). Bracket, and be prepared for the flame to be blown. Work in the brightest possible surroundings, or use LOTS of flash. Proper studio flash, not on-camera.

Use as long a lens as is feasible, to keep out of the way. If at all possible, mask the actual flame/arc with whatever looks natural: the welder's gloves/tools, the eorkpiece...

Quite honestly,the drama of the extreme contrast means that a wide range of exposures is likely to be successful.

Tashi delegs,

Roger

 

[rogue_designer]

alot depends on the look you want.

but using a film with a wide latitude certainly won't hurt you any.

I'll second Roger's suggestion of masking the flame/arc itself in the composition. It will often create a nice rimlight on the masking object, and help preserve your eyesight. 😉

 

[bsdunek]

I assume your talking arc welding. Don't have any photos handy to load, but I have done it. I used the welding mask glass over the lens of a SLR and a flash gun - old Honeywell-Heiland 65A.
Remember, the light from welding is very strong UV and can damage your vision in a short time. I have a friend that 'sunburned' the inside of his eyes trying to do this - beware!
If it's gas welding, the light won't hurt your eyes, just take photos in bright light or with flash.
In either case, bracket widely until you zero in on exposures.

 

[Al Kaplan]

There's nothing wrong with using a rangefinder for this sort of shot. The welder is very close to that source of sparks and the protective mask he or she is wearing is as much for protection from the sparks themselves as from the brightness of them. The welder has to be very close. Arms are only as long as arms are long. You can back off and shoot with a longer lens, maybe a 90 or even a 135mm.

Exposure is a problem. You want those sparks to be stark white in the photo yet the welder should have detail, although probably be about a stop or two underexposed in the areas where he's not directly illuminated by the sparks. This would be perfect situation to shoot Polaroid test shots, but those days are pretty much over. Can you get the welder to do your metering for you? One reading with an incident meter pointing towards the sparks, another pointing towards you. Expose so the that you're giving an extra stop of exposure over what the toward-the-sparks reading is. He doesn't have to know a thing about light meters beyond where to point it and which button to push before handing it back to you.

 

[Sparrow]

bigdog; the mask is essential to avoid the high UV of the arc, that's why i said two pairs of ray-bans i should have said sun block also.

the welder would have warned you anyway about Arc-eye, it's like extreme sunburn and snow-blindness all in one, look on Google for Photokeratitis

 

[bigdog]

Thank you for all the great tips.

The welder said (after the fact) that there was no danger in my viewing as I approached and fired off a few shots while he was welding. He is working at a boat yard I pass each day and so I plan on returning. I fired off a few frames at a distance at about 10 to 20 feet, but I tried to not look directly at the light source because it was so damn bright.

I believe I had my Canon 50mm 1.4 on my R2a and was probably in the f/4 to f/8 range and had TMAX 3200 loaded rated at 1250 and I opened an additional 2 stops quickly to try to compensate for the bright light source and grab a few shots before I was noticed. It was overcast and he was surrounded by dark metal, but the AE still cranked the shutter speed up to 2000 if I recall.

I will let you know how those exposures came out when I get the film developed.

Peace!

 

[acheyj]

The welder was wrong, see sparrows post. Even a flash can leave ones eys sore for many hours. There is an Ausie saying " As blind as a welders dog " , first hand experience of this my old faithfull farm dog loved to "help" in the workshop, he chased sparks from the grinder (another great photo subject) and wanted to watch the welder until forced removal by "shortening him up !". Took him days to recover and was henceforth banned.

ron

 

[Roger Hicks]

Almost certainly not a problem at 20-30 feet unless you spend a long time staring at the flame/arc. I'm not encouraging irresponsible behaviour; just suggesting that one could get too nervous about this.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Why not meter off the locale (no welding going on) and then put on a spare mask and make some photos of the guy at work?

Likely you couldn't use the viewfinder, so a tripod and a pre-arranged composition may well be the way forward.

 

[pvdhaar]

When it comes to metering, meter when the flame is on. The flame will illuminate the people near it enough to get appropriate lighting. If you meter before that, the flame will entirely wash out.

As far as focus is concerned, I prefocus on where the flame will be, and then recompose and keep the camera steady. As said, I'll let AE handle the lighting after that so that I don't have to look through the finder..

If you want some extra detail in the welder, it never hurts to pop a flash.. (shown in 3rd attachment).

 

[Sparrow]

As with all radiation the amount of exposure is an inverse square of the distance from the source so yes 20-30ft may well offer some protection.

Mixed gas welding, oxyacetylene, at normal distances 10-15ft it will damage the eyes in much the same way as looking into the sun, mainly temporary damage, within seconds one would be unable to see the cameras controls for instance.

Electric arc-welding is the same except for “arc flash” which has a very high UV output that can do rear damage to both the skin and eyes, but it isn’t me at risk so feel free to chance it, just look up arc-eye on the net first

 

[pvdhaar]

Oh.. forgot to say.. all shot with 35mm focal length..